Review of "People Who Eat Darkness: The Fate of Lucie Blackman" by Richard Lloyd Parry

In 2000, a 21-year-old English girl named Lucie Blackman - unhappy with her job as an airline hostess, deeply in debt, and wanting an adventure - moved to Japan with her friend Louise Phillips.


Lucie Blackman

Lucie and Louise rented a cheap apartment and took jobs as hostesses in the 'Casablanca' nightclub in Roppongi, a district of Tokyo teeming with nightspots and night life.


The Roppongi district in Japan is teeming with nightspots

The job of a hostess was to chat up Japanese businessmen and get them to buy pricey drinks and expensive bottles of champagne.


Hostesses get Japanese businessmen to buy drinks


Hostesses entertaining Japanese businessmen


Businessmen are encouraged to purchase bottles of champagne

The hostesses were also encouraged to go on dinner dates with the clients, which would encourage return visits to the club. The nightspots made handsome profits by employing these female companions - many of whom were tall, English-speaking blondes like Lucie and Louise. The girls, in turn, could make a lot of money in salary and bonuses.


Tall blonded hostesses like Lucie Blackman are popular in Japan


Hostesses can make a lot of money

Long conversations with Japanese businessmen were often boring, uncomfortable, and inappropriate (one man would ask 'do you fart when you pee?') - and Lucie was only a mildly successful hostess. Moreover, the striking blonde didn't get invited for many dinner dates - which put her job in jeopardy. So it's not surprising that Lucie agreed to go to lunch with thirtysomething business mogul Joji Obara, especially when he promised to give her a cell phone. Sadly, Lucie never returned from that luncheon.


Joji Obara

When Lucie didn't get back from her date on time, her friend Louise - sensing that something was wrong - raised the alarm immediately. However, the Tokyo police paid little attention. Even when Lucie was gone for days, and then weeks, the cops - who thought most hostesses were druggies on the fringes of the sex trade - didn't take the matter seriously. This despite the fact that several women had reported Obara previously, for drugging and raping them.....charges the police brushed off.


Police didn't take Lucie's disappearance seriously

Lucie's divorced parents, Jane and Tim, were terribly alarmed when their daughter vanished, especially since it happened in Japan - a foreign country with unfamiliar customs and laws. Tim - and Lucie's sister Sophie - flew to Japan almost immediately, to consult with the authorities.


Lucie Blackman's mother Jane


Lucie Blackman's father Tim


Lucie Blackman's sister Sophie

When Tim was unable to light a fire under the Tokyo police, he used his influence at the British Embassy, and Prime Minister Tony Blair made a public appeal for Lucie. In addition, Blair implored Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on behalf of Lucie's family.

Faced with widespread publicity about the missing English citizen - as well as pressure from the government - the Japanese police made a greater effort to find Lucie.


Missing persons poster for Lucie Blackman


Posters of missing Lucie Blackman were viewed by the public

Sadly, Lucie was already dead. Unfortunately, the Tokyo detectives, who had poor leadership and inept investigative practices, didn't unearth Lucie's body for months - even though Obara behaved VERY suspiciously and the corpse was buried near his seaside condo. In retrospect, it seems like the cops REALLY didn't know what they were doing. (They needed more female police officers, IMO.)




Lucie's body was found in a cave near Joji Obara's home

During all this time Lucie's dad, Tim Blackman, behaved something like the ringleader of a circus - calling press conferences; checking out Roppongi nightclubs; entertaining journalists; making speeches; organizing tip lines; and keeping himself (and Lucie) in the public eye.




Lucie's family kept her disappearance in the public eye


Demonstrator's with posters of Lucie

Tim was severely criticized for his over-the-top behavior, and for accepting a VERY large payment from Obara's lawyers - with the expectation he would 'go easy' on the suspect in public. Hard to know what Tim was thinking!

In this book, English journalist Richard Lloyd Parry explores two narratives: Lucie's story, from her childhood to her death; and Obara's tale, from his youth to his trial - where he was charged with a series of sexual assaults and two unlawful deaths.


Journalist and author Richard Lloyd Parry

Parry was able to reconstruct the lives of both the victim and the alleged murderer, using extensive research and interviews with many people who knew them.

As for Lucie's killing, Parry gives a thorough account of everything that happened: the girl's disappearance; the police investigation; the arrest of Obara; the interrogation; the years-long trial; and the subsequent appeals. During all this time Lucie's mother, father, and sister traveled back and forth to Japan, and the ordeal had a profound effect on the entire Blackman family.


Friends and family remembering Lucie Blackman

This is an interesting true crime story that includes fascinating tidbits about Japanese history, customs, and society. For instance, Joji Obara's family were ethnic Koreans and - as such - were subject to serious discrimination. Korean-Japanese citizens were treated with disdain and not permitted to rise high in society or obtain prestigious jobs. Obara's parents - who were very wealthy - made their money from real estate, parking lots, and pachinko gambling parlors.....and Joji followed in their footsteps.


Pachinko gambling parlor

It was also instructive to learn that Japanese cops expect suspects to confess (most do) and that prosecutors get convictions in more than 99% of cases that are tried. Thus, almost no one wants to be a defense lawyer (LOL). Nevertheless, Obara didn't confess to any crimes and went through a plethora of defense attorneys as he prepared for and participated in his trial.


Joji Obara on trial

Furthermore, Obara never allowed his lawyers to be in charge. He coordinated his entire defense, published a book about himself while he was in jail, and made a valiant attempt to dismiss the evidence or explain it away. This was no easy task since Obara made tapes of himself raping unconscious women AND kept a detailed log. I won't say if Obara got convicted or not....but you can Google the verdict(s) if you're curious.

This is an engaging book that I highly recommend to fans of true crime stories.

Rating: 4 stars